"The government's plan is to have a Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) in each Northeastern state. All states now have a passport office and as of now, only two states Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh do not have passport offices. But by January next year, both will have passport offices. So, with Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh done all eight states of the north east shall have PSK," cited Mukesh Kumar Pardeshi, Joint Secretary of Ministry of External Affairs and Chief Passport Officer.

He was speaking to reporters after the inauguration of the PSK at Agartala by Tripura Minister for Finance and Information Bhanulal Saha.

According to Pardeshi, the modern computerised passport office is part of government's ambitious Digital India programme to provide fast service to people at their doorsteps.

"First, the travel time will be reduced; people can go to the capital city of their state and submit their applications. The PSK is a modern office and it is all computerised, and we are following the principles of e-governance. It is a part of the promise of Digital India. So, the time taken for submission will be reduced and at the same time security has been enhanced. We are taking photographs here and also taking bio-metric. We are all connected with the police department. So in real-time, the form electronically goes to the police," said Pardeshi.